1. Background of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a thermoelectric heat pump, and, more particularly, to such a heat pump constructed of thermoelectric modules arranged in a stack.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known that when a quantity of p-type thermoelectric material is serially interconnected with a quantity of n-type thermoelectric material, that on passing an electric current through the so-formed module that heat will either be absorbed or emitted depending upon the current direction, thus acting as a heat pump as a result of what is known as the Peltier effect. It is also known to construct a relatively large refrigeration panel from a large number of semiconductor elements unitarily arranged. U.S. Re. No. 35,441. THERMOELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR HAVING A POROUS STRUCTURE DEAERATED IN A VACUUM AND THERMOELECTRIC PANEL USING P-TYPE AND N-TYPE THERMOELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTORS. Still further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,064, PELTIER MODULE, discloses a module composed of a plurality of semiconductor Peltier elements 1 mounted between substrates 2 and electrically interconnected by electrodes 10, the entire assembly enclosed by a hollow frame 3.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,553 concerns a thermoelectric assembly including thermoelectric couples having junction bridges 17 with ears 18 secured (soldered) to semiconductor bodies and other parts contactingly affixed to radiators 43, 44, the latter effecting the primary exchange of heat with ambient during operation. The junction bridges and radiators are separate elements of different construction that must be interconnected to one another both to achieve structural integrity and heat transfer from one to the other.
All known Peltier modular constructions have one or more of the following undesirable properties requiring compensation: an excessively high heat on a thermoelectric element “hot” side that can increase the temperature of the “cold” side impermissibly thereby reducing overall cooling efficiency; module packaging consisting of many different parts that results in correspondingly high cumulative heat resistance or impedance losses and reduction of operating efficiency (COP); overall relatively high weight; many interconnected metal (e.g., copper) and ceramic parts whose coefficients of expansion conflict thereby limiting size and numbers of modules that can be efficiently and reliably used in a unit.